MERSEYSIDE Police has defended its recent dog amnesty after owners complained the force had taken too long to return animals declared safe by a judge.

One owner described the amnesty as “a shambles that achieved nothing” after waiting more than a month to get his dogs back.

Richard Leigh said the force’s week-long amnesty, following the death of Ellie Lawrenson, was badly planned, lacked resources and was simply a knee-jerk reaction to the five-year-old’s tragic death.

But the officer who co-ordinated the hand-in said it had been more successful than ever thought possible, and delays were inevitable to meet the strict guidelines laid down by the courts.

Ellie was killed by a pit bull terrier thought to belong to her uncle Kiel at her grandmother Jackie’s St Helens home on New Year’s Day. Jackie Simpson has since been charged with manslaughter and Kiel Simpson with offences relating to the Dangerous Dogs act.

Ellie’s death prompted an amnesty for the public to report their dogs if they were concerned about their breeding.

Mr Leigh handed his dogs over to officers as part on the amnesty on January 10 and Judge Miriam Shelvey later decided his puppies, Baby and Barney, were not a threat to public safety on February 28.

But he did not get his pets back until the last day of March, and said he endured an agonising wait not knowing if the dogs would be struck down with parvo virus, which killed four seized dogs while detained in kennels in Merseyside.

He said: “The whole thing has been a shambles from start to finish. They never should have taken the dogs in the first place as they didn’t have the proper resources put in place to handle the amnesty.

“There is no such thing as dangerous dogs, just dangerous owners, and I think if the police hadn’t rushed through the amnesty so quickly then they would have realised this.”

But Merseyside Police strongly defended its amnesty and said with a total of 198 dogs either being seized or handed in to police it was more successful than they ever thought it would be.

Supt Ian Pilling, who co-ordinated the hand-in, said: “Following the death of Ellie Lawrenson, it became clear that many people on Merseyside were keeping illegal breeds out of ignorance.

“This is the reason Merseyside Police decided to organise a hand-in, to allow responsible members of the public to tackle this issue free from fear of prosecution.

“A small number of dog owners opted to go before the courts to have their dogs placed on the index and a deadline was set of April 28 for the dogs to be placed on the register.

“Before a dog can be registered, a series of conditions must be met. This included neutering, tattooing and insuring the dogs.

“In order to meet these conditions, some delays have been unavoidable.

“We are keen to return all these animals to their owners as soon as possible.”